Suspect Had 2nd Murder Plan, Kidan Tells Officials

Taped Statement Says Boulis' Associate Was Targeted

June 10, 2006|By Jon Burstein and Sean Gardiner Staff Writers

Just weeks after the murder of SunCruz Casino founder Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, a suspect in the slaying suggested using a dump truck to kill the company's former chief financial officer, a Boulis business rival told authorities.

Anthony "Little Tony" Ferrari believed longtime Boulis associate, Joan Wagner, needed to be killed, removing her from the fight over control of the Dania Beach-based gambling ship fleet, Adam Kidan said in a taped May 1 statement to police. Kidan and Boulis had been warring over the company at the time of Boulis' Feb. 6, 2001, gangland-style killing and Boulis' business associates had continued the fight after his death.

Ferrari said Wagner's death could be arranged to look like an accident, using a stolen dump truck to slam into her car, Kidan said. Kidan said he told Ferrari not to touch Wagner.

"I said, `You already killed one person, how are you going to kill someone else and get away with it?'" Kidan said during his 2 1/2-hour statement to Fort Lauderdale police and the lead prosecutor in the murder case.

Kidan talked to authorities as a condition of his plea deal for bank fraud charges tied to the purchase of SunCruz from Boulis. He has been sentenced to 70 months in prison on those charges and could get his sentence reduced by cooperating.

He and his former business partner, disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, had teamed up to buy SunCruz from Boulis, but the relationship between Kidan and Boulis quickly soured over unpaid loans and control of the business.

Kidan denied any involvement in Boulis' killing, but said two of the three men awaiting trial for the murder -- Ferrari and Anthony "Big Tony" Moscatiello -- told him they were responsible for it. Ferrari, 49; Moscatiello, 68; and James "Pudgy" Fiorillo, 28, are charged with first-degree murder and could face the death penalty if convicted. The three men have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.

Boulis was ambushed on a Fort Lauderdale street near his office, his BMW sprayed with bullets.

Kidan said he believes the triggerman was John Gurino, an associate of the late mob boss John Gotti. Gurino was fatally shot in 2003 by a Boca Raton deli owner.

Kidan said Moscatiello, also a reputed Gotti associate, ordered Boulis' murder. Kidan had known Moscatiello for years and brought him to Florida in late 2000 because he feared Boulis had organized crime ties. Kidan ended up paying $240,000 to companies connected with Moscatiello and Ferrari, a friend of Moscatiello.

Moscatiello told police after his Sept. 26 arrest that he had no role in the killing and Ferrari and Fiorillo carried it out without telling him. Moscatiello said it would make no sense to kill Boulis because even if a lengthy legal fight ensued over the company, Moscatiello would still find a way to make money off SunCruz.

Kidan said Moscatiello and Ferrari met with him separately after the murder and confessed to him. He said he then met the two men together in March or April 2001 in a Queens, N.Y., warehouse. That's when Ferrari suggested killing Wagner. Moscatiello liked the plan, Kidan said.

"I looked at him and I'm like, `Are you kidding me?'" Kidan said.

After Boulis' death, Wagner became a trustee of Boulis' estate. Kidan said Wagner had been leading the charge against him after the shooting.

Wagner could not be reached for comment Friday.

Kidan said that a few months later, Ferrari suggested robbing two or three SunCruz boats simultaneously. Ferrari wanted to plant men on the ships and have high-speed racing boats go out to them. The men in the boats would distribute guns to the plants and then they would take off with the casino money to the Bahamas, Kidan said.

Kidan said he called Ferrari's scheme "crazy."

"Between that and... the dump truck trying to kill Joan Wagner... it was almost comical after a while," Kidan said.

Moscatiello's attorney, David Bogenschutz, said he had not listened to Kidan's statement and could not comment. Attorneys for Ferrari and Fiorillo could not be reached for comment Friday.

Fiorillo's attorney, Assistant Public Defender H. Dohn Williams, questioned Thursday the credibility of Kidan's recent statement. In a March 2001 statement to Fort Lauderdale police, Kidan denied knowing anything about the murder or even knowing that Moscatiello had alleged mob ties.

"My question is: If he wasn't involved in this, why would these people make these damaging and damning admissions to him?" Williams said.

Jon Burstein can be reached at jburstein@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4491.